truthseeker106's Xanga

Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually.

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:27:33 GMT

Dear Elyon,
On the radio playing a few nights ago, I heard a preacher expressing the idea that when we wait for You we develop a Spirit of repentance. The next day, I prayed to You to show me if it was true and I came upon Hosea 12:6 "Therefore, return to your God (repentance) , Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. I praise You Lord for giving me this gift in Your Word so that I knew if I did not wait I could not have a spirit of repentance and it is precisely these things, a broken and contrite heart, that please You. I see Lord that the most important thing any one can do is to wait in Your presence...not to speak aimlessly giving our lists of legalistic jargon, but simply to wait and listen, to be still and know that You are God. Until we are refined and humbled by Your presence, our human words and notions are of no value. Though You in Your grace restore us instantaneously when we come to You in total submission. When we wait for You, I notice that some things happen:
1. we have a high view of You (as my dad always speaks of)...we see a glimpse of the extent of Your greatness, majesty, glory, and holiness
2. we see how worthless we are in comparison to You...we are humbled and brought to a state of Godly sorrow that leads us to repent of the things You direct us to. We see the ways in which we have sought our own glory rather than Yours, the ways in which we have been utterly selfish, the ways in which we have been setting our hearts and minds on earthly things rather than on Your truths from above
3. it sometimes becomes revealed to us by Your Spirit actions we must take to further Your kingdom...strongholds we must give up, people we must show love to and speak Your truth to
4. we are filled with Your love and forgiveness and are better able to love and forgive others...we know have the power to be humble and there is great power in humility for in it is encompassed freedom from selfishness and slavery to our sinful desires that wage war against our souls

Lord, forgive me for doing everything other than waiting for You. Father, give me the gift of grace to wait for You each day and continually surrender to You so that I may do Your will and be led by Your Spirit. It is only because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that I may enter Your presence. This presence is so priceless now not only because by Christ we are not destroyed when we enter it, but because it is a refining fire that circumcises our heart, minds, and souls, that we may love You with all of them.

In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Surrender the right to my self will to Him

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:29:20 GMT

Dear Elyon,

I praise You for being worthy of keeping our wills safely in Your hands. Not only must we give You our wills to escape judgment and fire and to obey Your command to deny ourselves, but when we have given You our will, we no longer bear the agony of our own evil desires that wage war against our souls and bring our spirits to the brink of death. I praise You for constantly having Your hands open for me to put my wretched will into whenever I accept Your grace to do so. Give all of Your elect strength in the continuous surrender of their wills. We cannot do it on our own. On our own we are filled with selfish ambition and conceit; when we try to surrender our will, we stumble and fall, but when we humble ourselves and be still before You without using our own human efforts, You release us from ourselves and bring us into sweet fellowship with You...into freedom from self and evil desires and mindsets. Jesus, please change my heart so that I will surrender to You every moment of the day. Thank you for what You are doing in us all. Please bless Kaylen with the joy of Your presence. Thank you for Joanna and her sweet nature which seeks peace and harmony. May it be only Your peace that she ever promotes. Bless Anna Faith to remain steadfast and strong in Your truth. Help us all to pray! With Your love, sincerity, boldness in Your power, humility, and faith delivered to us we will hide under Your reigning truth forever. Save us always from SELF.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

Would you share my burden through prayer?

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:42:12 GMT

Lord,
I praise You for making us to be unified in Your Spirit with Christ as the Head. I pray that You would put it in the heart of someone to pray for me in these two things:
1. fatigue: I have been physically fatigued since arriving from India and has been hindering me many a time.
2. abiding: apart from abiding in Christ, I can bear no fruit and can do nothing..give me grace, Jesus, so that I can abide in You constantly.
Thank you.
In Jesus Christ's Saving Constant Name,
Amen

A Verse

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:16:11 GMT

Psalm 119:45:

⁴⁵ I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.

Then after seeking God's law, we receive joy from obeying it, but because we CHOOSE to obey, it is not forced. It is our free will. In this way of choosing to obey, we are joyful in the freedom of Christ. That is what Elizabeth was saying yesterday. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was present in the Garden of Eden to instill freedom in the joy Adam and Eve had with God before the fall. If the tree was not there, there was no choice...there was no freedom. IT INNATELY HAD TO BE THERE FOR TRUE FREEDOM. Thanks be to our Lord who has given us everything we need for Godliness and Holiness that we may continuously perfect holiness out of reverence for Him.

Help me enter Your presence.

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:47:24 GMT

Dear Elyon,
I praise You for all those truths You keep on teaching me. Your Word brings life and joy to all who hear it, believe it, and obey it through Your Spirit in Jesus Christ. If we keep on sinning after having received knowledge of Your truth, no sacrifice for sin is left but only a fearful expectation of Your judgment and the raging fear that will consume Your enemies. Help us not to deceive ourselves, but to be doers of Your Word as well as hearers. Thank you for rescuing us from our bodies of sin and death and for letting us abide in You while in the next moment we are apt to live by our sinful nature. Keep showing us Your grace and mercy as we intend to show Your mercy to others. Help us not only to forgive others, but to possess such humility that we do not consider to have been wronged because we know our frailty without You. Your servant Solomon said that it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. Help us to be self-controlled and alert because our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Help us to resist him standing firm in the faith knowing that our brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. You are the God of all grace who has called us into Your eternal glory in Christ. After we have suffered for a little while, You will restore us to Yourself and make us strong, firm, and steadfast. I falter at the sight our my own weakness, but You are making me strong. Please help Divya's teacher in a coma from a bridge collapse injury. Help her and her child to be wrapped in Your Spirit through Christ because of Your love and grace. Thank you for Rebekah and Elizabeth. Give my dad Your compassion that he may have Your Spiritual fire. Give me wisdom and power in dealing with IV. Thank you for Pastor Lafollette and Pastor Anderstrom. Help them to be with You more. Protect the Ross's by the power of Your name. Send Your comfort and healing to Jeun and Karen. Thank you for being our heavenly Father. Please make me holy as You are holy.
In Jesus Christ's Name,
Amen

Praise You with Joy!

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:49:48 GMT

Elyon!

I praise You for being a God who is able to make all grace abound to us.
That You are present when we are in need.
You are the Creator of the glorious heavens and the earth, the waters and the seas.
You have brought me out of the drunkenness of pride and godlessness and restored my vision.
You have given us Your eyes to see what You intend for us to see.
Your grace was enough to forgive my stubborn rebellious heart.
I praise You for promising to make me holy and blameless before the day of Christ.
You are not like man to take revenge on the sin I have committed against You.
Your ways are higher than mine and Your thoughts far loftier.
You give us freedom in Your truth and we are shielded from the turmoil around us by the meekness that You share with us.
Help me to praise You and pray continuously at all times with all kinds of requests.
Help the rest of Your saints throughout the world who carry Your name and cross.
By the grace of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Weep for their own Judgment

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:03:53 GMT

^{Luke 23
27}A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' ³⁰Then
   " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!"
      and to the hills, "Cover us!" '^[d] ³¹For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Dear Lord,
      The women near You were mourning and wailing for You as You were being led to Your crucifixion. You knew that death had no power over You and life could not help but spring out of Your powerful being like a mighty force that raised You back to life. Yet You humbled Yourself to even death on a cross. Because You went through that insurmountable suffering, we are free from our slavery to death. Thank you Jesus! There was no reason for the women to weep for You, because You were not being killed irremedially. Rather You told then to weep for themselves and their children who were "ever seeing but never perceiving...ever hearing but never understanding" The truths of Your Words had been hidden from them for this reason. Because they rejected You, the capstone that caused them to stumble, the wrath of God was upon them as it was on me before You gave me faith so that I could trust You and live. Even while You were with them (the green tree) doing miracles and showing authority like none else can possess, they refused to believe in Your Words so how much less would they believe when You were taken from them (dry tree)? Under judgment there is every reason to wail and mourn. If hell is one's destiny, why take another breathe in this barren world. If they do not choose You the best they could do is extend the time on this earth after which they enter eternal torment and the remaining time of earth could in no sense be relished to the slightest degree knowing eternal fire awaited them. But more importantly they could not find joy and peace because they knew not You, the source of all good things. Show the truth to Your elect. Let us not live in the dark, but let us live as children of light who live holy and blameless lives while abiding in You and denying ourselves. Show us how to use Your Spirit's power because our heart's are so hard and our faith so small. Only You can help us.
In Jesus Christ's name,
Amen

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:39:04 GMT

“The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. Therefore men, revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?” Job 37:23-24

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:22:08 GMT

Lord,
I can only thank You for Your mercy and grace. Give me eyes to see the extent to which I am so undeserving, filled with every evil inclination and selfishness. When I am not hidden with Christ in You, I am abiding in my sinful self wrought in worry, fear, and loneliness. And when I am strong in You, I am still vulnerable to fall if I so choose to refuse to deny myself. You said, "Choose life that you may live." Help us to be strong Lord...to uphold each other and to not be discouraged by the sin that could drag us down and by the taunts of those around us. Keep us strong only in Your grace shown through Jesus Christ. When we think we are something, show us that we are nothing so that we may seek to bring You alone glory. Help us to have unlimited compassion and grace for each other than we will not fall into the temptations of bitterness, enmity, and hatred. Lord, my heart is so very weak. Help me to set my mind on You and not on earthly things. I do not know what to say...what does a sinner have to say Lord? Thank You Jesus.
Forever in Christ,
Amen

An email I sent out on June 2, 2007

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:35:12 GMT

Greetings to you all from this Indian land in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the only lawgiver and judge, able to save and to destroy. I thank God that I can write to you all finally because for the last two weeks (even prior to this trip) I wanted to write to you all, but the first and second week in India have been a physical struggle for me so whenever I thought to write a letter, I was prevented by some physical discomfort (heat, tiredness, destroyed stomach) or Spiritual problem (sin, laziness). I pray that I can write for His glory alone and seek only to bestow upon the One and only, power and honor, wisdom and strength for they belong to Him alone and for His name sake we strive to do His will.

Every 3/4 years, we go to India to see our family...my two grandmas, my mom's brothers and their families, my dad's sister and her family, and a host of other people. Though it is in general a stressful trip, we have in the past enjoyed going and spending time with all those whom we had not seen in so long. But since the last trip, some of our family of four lost our appetite to return possibly because things have changed so much (people are different and busier nowadays...not like the old days of children running around happily and wonderful fellowship by waterfalls and resorts) and because it grieves us to occasionally lose our patience in the midst of the busyness and heat of this place so much so that we think twice about coming. So this trip has been vastly different than any other trip to India in that none of us were particularly dying to go except for my brother who enjoys travel and break from studies. My dad has a job at 3M in which God has blessed him to be needed in and my mother prefers to stay in the quiet of her home and teach the Bible to others. I was just longing for a break from school. We really had no reason to go except for one:

The Reason

Some time back, during a hard time, my brother vowed to preach the Gospel to 1003 people (the three to emphasize the importance of individuals over numbers). He had to do it before he graduated from undergrad and he wanted to do it in India. So here we are. Sometimes I wonder if it was a wrong thing to make such a vow to God and if it is whether the whole trip was bound to result in nothing or harm. But we know our God. He is gracious...slow to anger and abounding in love. Even if we were not blameless the whole way through, He is giving us grace and opportunity to do His will by telling people what He told us in His Word. I imagined my brother speaking alone in various meetings my pastor-uncle would arrange and us three standing in anticipation at the side lines. But what is happening is quite diferent.

How the Preaching is Being Done

My dad had casually mentioned during the planning process (though we planned literally nothing except our plane ticket dates for this trip) that we should do it as a family...that is all four of us preach at every meeting. I really did not think it would happen. The first meeting arranged was at a tiny church at which my brother was to do his first preaching. It was kind of like a practice speech because of the small number of people present. But a few minutes before he was to speak, my mom whispered to me, "We are all speaking you know."

"What?...I have to speak now!"

What in the world was I going to say? I had barely made it through the past semester. This past year has been very trying for me and I cannot stay that I stood firm. There were times the past semester that I was deeply absorbed into internal sin. In fact, it seemed like for every sin God removed from me, new sins appeared to replace them. Certain sins that I never dreamed of came up to my realms of choice and I had not been armed and ready to withhold temptation. So I did not stand firm, I was shaken, I fell sometimes, but God did not let me be overcome by evil. This year has contained some of the best and worst parts of my life. The best parts were when I was in His presence...when He allowed me to suffer for Him. The two days in which I wrote His Words to my class. The sweetly sorrowful times of persecution in my church. Those two beloved days of being in His presence almost continuously inspired by the reading of the biography of His servant, Reese Howells. The times I could share God's truth with non-believers. Those times of sincere prayer with Brianna. Those times of refreshment after repentances. But the bad times were there too due to my own lack of fear of God. The times when I argued with my brother (may God give me strength to overcome this), the times when I was timid, selfish, and helpless for the Kingdom of God, the times when I sought earthly companionship, the times when I was filled with fear and worry over earthly things. The times when I made being happy because of Christ more important than the desire to suffer for His glory. The past semester had been filled with mainly the bad things because I was not clear minded and did not so very often pray as before. The end of semesters are hard for me because I cling to earthly things with a love that is inordinate and that was the frame of mind I had leaving to India. The plane ride erased everything. Then I ended up here: a furnace. But that was just what initially met us at the door. What was inside was a generous gracious gift of God I could never deserve. And I do not say this in a happy frame of mind or even with a mind that understands how this is true, but like everything else that has happened to the beloved of Christ, things are unfolding to His glory. We sin, but are being made holy by His grace. We err and stray, but He turns us back to the right path with His love and grace. So back to what I said that day at the small church. It was something about the sweetness of God's presence. It is what I have spoken about so many places this year and so it was what came out. I am used to speaking much at a time or writing out clearly what I mean. Here in India I am forced to be simple for the sake of translation, but there is something sweet and pure about being short and precise...perhaps it has to do with the fact that simple words are often delivered to children and childlike faith is ideal

So...

So what we have been doing is going to various churches and villages and preaching the Gospel. Amongst my dad, mom, and I a brief overview of the Bible from Genesis through Resurrection is given after which my brother delivers His sermon on repentance, faith, and salvation started out with the story of the Prodigal Son. The biggest meeting we have spoken at took place at a village, Guruputanda, in which over 500 people attended from surrounding villages. As we wait to speak, my mom tells me "This is what God's people do. They come and live amongst people in villages like this and preach the Gospel for the sake of Christ." There is a hint in the ways she says it that we should be doing the same. "Some day." is all I can say and whisper it to my Savior again, "Someday Lord, this is what You will have me do...suffer for Your Gospel, but what am I doing now and when will I be completely steadfast?" One of the biggest things I wonder here after having spoken over 5 times now is why people let us preach. If some random family from another country came to our American churches, we would not let them speak automatically and perhaps we are right in doing this (we cannot let any family come and speak any doctrine they wish to), but here, churches are glad to have us speak. It is only God's grace to allow the right people to allow us to speak. One strange thing (and it is not that strange when we see that such attacks from the devil are to be expected) is that whenever it has been my turn to speak, the 20 minutes before I speak are dreadfully hard physically (heat, fainting sensations, etc.), but somehow God's strength is always there when I do have to speak.

Responses from Audiences?

The people we speak to respond in different ways:

In the three villages:

in the big meeting in Guruputanda, some people raised their hands to accept Christ and Bible were given to those who wanted them. I forgot to mention that the person who arranged this meeting for us via my uncle has been greatly blessed by God to do His will. He grew up in the village, went out and became prosperous, and chose to return to his village to do God's work amongst his own people....sacrifce. Praise God for him.

In the church meetings:

People generally thank us for speaking and tell us "God bless you". In the CSI church at Pulivendla, many old women came and placed their hands on my head to give me some type of blessing. God knows we deserve to have people crucify us, but there has been virtually no visible persecution from the audiences thus far.

But it's so trivial

I am sure missionaries here in India could look at the little we have been able to do here and say "Untha scene ladhu!" (It's not a big deal). And it is true, we have truly really done trivial amounts of God's work here. But it is so new to us four who are only now getting our feet wet in God's work of this kind. Pray for us that we would spend time in prayer preparing our hearts to speak. So far it has been busy busy busy...preach....sleep....busy............ eat....etc. Only if we are led by the Holy Spirit and have the amazing love of Christ to compel us can we reap the plentiful harvest. I confess Lord that we have not done it Your way wholeheartedly. Please give us strength to do so because our flesh is so weak.

Anand

So it all started with Anand (this whole trip) so some of you may want to know how Anand is doing. He has been remarkably bold to speak the truth of God in all these meetings with such a strong message of Christ in hand. He did something very amazing the other day at a church meeting through the Holy Spirit's power. Instead of reciting his usual speech, he spoke about otherthings including the necessity of preaching the Gospel and about our calling. God was speaking through him and it was amazing because usually my brother never speaks like that without notes. At home, he is busy playing with the neighbor children around here...taking pictures and movies of them and displaying them for them all on the computer. The kids there all miss Jake (Anand's friend) who came with us last time, but Anand is an attraction for them with his camera and high tech gadgetry and all!:) In a more general sense, Anand is going to Iowa state this year to get his PHD! We thank God for that...may God bless him much for his devotion to His truth by His grace.

God teaching me...

God has been showing me my sin very clearly this whole trip. I learned two general things so far:

1. Without Christ, I am a very selfish person. I cannot stand up under physical suffering and I cannot easily pray when tired and hot. I am prone to spending time in selfabsorption rather than with Christ. But this is not what I want to do, but the sin living in me causes me to do it. God is rescuing me from this body of death.

2. I am much of a reflectionist and passivist without Christ. Most people are unconciously deliberate in their speech and actions, but I am prone to self reflection and outward reflection. Most people may reflect for a few mintes every day, but I am constantly reflecting so much so that I have nothing to say sometimes (without being insincere to myself) because I myself know there is no point in saying it. God shows me that I must be filled only with His love so that I will not always wait for others to come and approach me but that I in love will approach them not because of intellectual stimulation or earthly ambition but simply because the love of Christ graciously dwells within me and must overflow to others. I cannot be a passive Christian!, but without Christ I am so prone to doing so. To preach the Gospel I must be deliberate with Christ's intentions and by walking in His will which I can know by knowing God Himself.

Literature

The literature I have read here also has caused me to learn more about God's truth and to view the world around me differently. Some truthsI have pulled out include:

* God's holiness is a consuming fire in the presence of sin. Sin dies when in the presence of a Holy God. Without Christ, we in our sin die in the presence of a holy God.

*Blessings and curses are real. We should not say I am this way or he/she is that way referring to a bad thing because we are using our tongues to curse. We should always encourage and speak the truth of Christ and bless others.

*I am currently reading a book called, "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis (1300-1400's) and other than the Bible it is one of the best books I have read along with Reese Howells Intercessor and Mere Christianity. It is teaching me that it has been granted to us in Christ not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him. We cannot be akin to any earthly thing and still have the complete peace of Christ. The more involved we get with our earthly desires, the less peace and joy we will have and yet the comfort we receive from Christ is not the goal of our faith here on earth. We need God's grace to do without it for Jesus said that we will have trouble in the world but that we should take heart because He has overcome the world. I realized earlier this year that much of my Spiritual intentions were wrong. I had been pursuing God for mainly the desire for happiness thinking if I was close to God I would be in a state of emotional bliss and then when I did not feel God's presence times got quite hard. God has shown me that we do not strive for happiness here on earth. It is true that in God's presence is fulness of joy, but there will be hard times and we should not rely on the gift of the Giver (joy) but rather the Giver Himself who is able to keep us holy and blameless until the day of Christ. We need to be willing to carry the cross of Christ and suffer for God's glory. We have the assurance of eternal life. What hardship then can we not bear knowing that the joy we enjoy glimpses of will be made complete in that day when God restores everything to Himself in Christ.

Shiny

I met this girl named Shiny the other day who randomly showed up at my aunt's doorstep introduced herself and took me to her house. She was a relative of a relative, etc. She said she thought I was bored when she heard I was staying in my aunt's house with no girl friends so she came over and we had a good time going to a park yapping away. I had not talked to a friend like that in what seemed like ages (but that is a different story I will speak of soon). We came back in the evening and her brother and cousin were in a deep discussion with my parents. My mom motioned for us to come over. My dad says, "Preethi, this guy has some questions about religion. Try to answer them." His question involved determining why we should believe in Christ when there are so many other religions out there. "How can you Christians be so sure you are right?" So, I assumed they were all Christians with healthy questions. I gave off a speech about how Christianity was different from other religions because it acknowledged a perfect moral standard and because only Christ of all other "gods" displayed perfect love. We were met with question after question of protest from all three of them. I was a little confused at their audacity until I found out their family was Hindu. Their questions make me more aware of the Spiritual battle that exists and how we need to be prepared to demolish arguments that set themseles up against the Gospel of Christ. We cannot demolish them through reason or our own effort but only through the Holy Spirit's gracious leading through Christ.

Unequally Yoked

Unequally yoked can refer to friendship as well as marriage. At the U, I have made some pretty good friends (in an earthly sense). Better friends than I had ever made at New Life in the sense that we went out together, called each other, talked openly etc. But after a conversation or having lunch with them, I knew there was no reason for me to be with them if I did not impact them for the Kingdom. God allowed me to tell them the Gospel, but that was only one of the many other things we talked about. God wants us to minister to others, but we ourselves must not get involved in civillian affairs. I could talk to them and tell them the Gospel while being in God's presence, but not find enjoyment in their company. The more we enjoy the company of nonbelievers, the further we drift from God. Some would beg to differ, but may God's Spirit show all that this is true.

It is not about Self!

Our faith is not about us. It is not about our problems and desires and plans. The focus should not be on our emotional satisfaction or pleasure of sinfulness but on the Holiness and perfection of God. This is what my dad spoke about in some places:having a high view of God. Faith in Christ is not abvout us...it is about our King! We have to serve Him with our every second and thought not resisting to forsake anything for His glory. Nothing we do must be for ourselves, but it must all be for Him because it is the least we can do to bring our glorious God honor and praise. It is no sacrifice on our part because we are nothing and owe God everything. If we are focused on self we become dissapointed or prideful, lonely or fearful. When we are hidden with Christ in God, we are able to sweetly abide in the love of Christ.

Please Pray

I have three things to write so please pray for them if God leads you to:

1. a biogaphy of my grandma

2. a biography of my other grandma (I have already interviewed both of them...just need to write now)

3. a letter for my aunt and uncle to their son's possible spouse's parents (I do not know whether this will happen...my aunt has proposed for me to help put in words what they want to convey)

The rest of our trip (preaching):

1. going to Jammalamadugu and Cuddapah

2. now my parents are in Nandial and some other place I cannot remember the name of

3. Bangalore (I do not think we are preaching here)

4. my uncle's orphanage for girls in Vicarabad (pray we can be of some use there)

5. Madras (my dad wants to speak at his old Madras Christian college)

That we will have energy (not be lazy, tired, sick)...this may have been our (or at least my) biggest setback so far.

Dear family at New Life back home.

Please send me your prayer requests also.

Other Stuff

I have not abided in Christ through prayer much here in India, but the times that I have have been particularly sweet. May God graciously bless me to allow me to be with Him more. I have finished my fourth semester at the UMN. In spite of sinning much, God granted me a 4.0 the past semester. I have two more years to go in my neuroscience and chemistry degree and then another 4-5 for phd (I hope to stay here at the UMN for that also). After that, God may be leading me to go to Dallas Theological Seminary. After that it could be ministry work till the end. This is what I can see now...God may change the plan...we'll wait and see.

Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord for whose sake I have lost all things and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ...a righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.