He loves us with unfailing love. The LORD’S faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD (Psalm 117:2; NLT).
I love you, LORD; you are my strength (Psalm 18:1; NLT).
Always be joyful (1 Thessalonians 5:16; NLT).
You love me, and I love you!
Every day our joy is new
When I wake in exile here,
One in spirit: you are near.
I love you, and you love me!
Oh, how happy we will be
When we meet in heaven above,
Face to face, Lord: one in love.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12; NIV).
Reading: Philippians 3:8-14; NLT.
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.
I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.