Christ Is Our Gain

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Good morning, Lord

Father in Heaven, I seek You first-the knowledge of Your kingdom and Your righteousness. Fill my consciousness constantly and complete Your joy in me as I take up my cross and follow...In Jesus' name…

Memory verse: Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)

“I remain confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Verses of the day- 1 John 4:20-21

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Today’s reading: Genesis 33-35 Matthew 10:1-20 

Christ Is Our Gain

Blessed is the man who . . .delight[s] . . . in the law of the Lord,     and on his law he meditates day and night.He is like a tree     planted by streams of waterthat yields its fruit in its season,     and its leaf does not wither.In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1–3)

Philippians 1:21 (ESV)

21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” 

If, when I was young and my goal was to be the best and the biggest or the richest or the most respected-if I wanted to look back on my life and say it was about standing before many and bringing a good message or that I have prepared well enough that I will always be taken care of and need nothing-or that I have made enough to leave my family wealthy-(and the world says all that is good)-then what have I done with Jesus?

Psalm 1:1-13 says if I delight in the Lord all the time I will prosper in ‘all things’.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all ‘these things’ will be added.” Matthew 6:33

Paul defines ‘all things’ for us. His Christian life was never one of great pleasure in the world. It was, in fact, a life of much misery. So, when Paul says ‘to live is Christ’, he says that his joy in this life is Christ, his fruitful labor for Christ, is life itself. And when he says ‘that to die is gain’ means that nothing he leaves behind is more important than being with Jesus.

Paul knows that in death, his suffering ends and his joy is eternally complete in Christ but then he says in verse 24, “ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ”

Blessings of this world are many but none bring the joy that working for Christ by His power to reach and develop others brings. It also means that as great as our joy in Christ may be here on this earth, it all falls short of being with Christ when all this is over.

One survey states that 50% of Americans are less happy than 20 years ago in earthly things. The world is unhappy.

The only way for them to be really be happy, with true joy is Jesus.

The question for us is what is the level of our joy in Christ. Is it real? Is your joy more real and deeper than 20 years ago or 20 months ago.

If you had to say what Christ means to you, would it be current or would you say the same thing you would have said years back?

I want us to pray that God brings us closer to Him and that we begin to understand His joy in a much deeper way.

With every trial of pain, the enemy says to us that our faith has resulted in nothing. This is a serious time for many of us in our faith. It is time to draw close to God all the time-to really depend on His strength-to live in His presence.

“Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.” James 4:8

...because He loves us, He will do it…

Father in Heaven,

Your name means so much more than my words. I need to know so much more of Your kingdom. Give me the discernment and joy I need for today. Forgive me for standing at a distance. Lead me away from evil.

God who sings over me,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen