Worthless RUBBISH

My treasures on earth -- my travel experiences, the many photo albums which remind me of the variety of places visited and people befriended; my health and fitness, the exercises and diet with which i disciplined my body; my artwork, the paintings and b&w photos; head knowledge collected through poring over spiritual self-help books and attending retreats and seminars...

i once thought all these things were so very important, but now i consider them worthless because of what CHRIST has done. (Philippians 3:7, NLT)

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing CHRIST JESUS my Lord. i have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that i may have CHRIST (3:8)

and become one with Him. i no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey GOD's law, but i trust CHRIST to save me. For GOD's way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. (3:9)

As a result, i can really know CHRIST and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. i can learn what it means to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, (3:10)

so that, somehow, i can experience the resurrection from the dead! (3:11)

i don't mean to say that i have already achieved these things or that i have already reached perfection! But i keep working toward that day when i will finally be all that CHRIST JESUS saved me for and wants me to be. (3:12)

No, dear brothers and sisters, i am still not all i should be, but i am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, (3:13)

i strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which GOD, through CHRIST JESUS, is calling us up to heaven. (3:14)

Not that i was ever in need, for i have learned how to get along happily whether i have much or little. (4:11)

i know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. i have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. (4:12)

For i can do everything with the help of CHRIST who gives me the strength i need. (4:13) He is the ROCK of my salvation.